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Jason McAteer has suggested that Liverpool sorely missed the influence of two former Reds stars during their surprising 1-0 loss to Galatasaray.
The Reds suffered defeat at RAMS Park on Tuesday, as Victor Osimhen's first-half spot-kick proved decisive between the two teams. Arne Slot's side created opportunities to level the score, but the Reds ultimately failed to breach a disciplined Galatasaray backline and suffered their second reverse in three matches.
Following the encounter, former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer argued that the Reds would have benefited from additional experience and two commanding voices who featured prominently during a triumphant era under Jurgen Klopp's stewardship.
McAteer proposed that Jordan Henderson, currently at Brentford, and Brighton's James Milner would have provided Liverpool with crucial support in an intimidating environment and a fixture where the Reds required one or two composed figures.
Speaking to beIN Sports, McAteer said: "Do you know what I worry about? When it wasn't going well under Jurgen Klopp, they had James Milner and Jordan Henderson – real characters, not just off the pitch but on it.
"When those balls were given away tonight, if Jordan Henderson was on the pitch, he was at them. He was pointing the finger at you, and it's like, 'You don't do that again.'
"He demanded a mindset on the football pitch - 'You don't give that ball away again. You don't expose us again, and if we get punished, it's your fault. Don't do it.'"
Offering his own verdict on his team's display, Slot voiced his disappointment as the Reds endured a second consecutive loss, following their Premier League defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Slot said: "Disappointing because you play football to win a game and that's what we didn't do.
"For me, it was a different loss to the one we had against Palace because for me there was a lot more to like, especially in the first half, which was maybe different to the Palace game.
"And in the second half, it became harder and harder for us to create. First of all, because they were fighting with all they had so you have to give credit to them, and second of all because we hardly played in the second half. By 'hardly played' I mean the ball was hardly in play."
When questioned about his team selection, with Jeremie Frimpong starting ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai on the right flank, Slot explained: "Jeremie played a lot of times as a wing-back or a right winger at [Bayer] Leverkusen. He played there in preseason for us. He is one of the players that can replace Mo [Salah] in that position.
"I don't see many others that can play in that position which is favored to them, and I think it is one of Jeremie's favourite positions. He plays there for the national team always.
"Normally, normally, normally they [Galatasaray] play with the left winger inverted and the full-back really high.
"So, the left winger goes in the midfield and Dom is in the midfield and Jeremie is some kind of a wing-back, but they did it the opposite today, which happens more to us that they change something. But I think both of them can play really well in that position, and I've just explained also that Conor missed out quite a lot in preseason.
"So that also means he cannot play every single game, so you consider which game is best for which player. Mo has played a lot of minutes already, so we decided to do it like this today, and in the first half, I was quite happy."
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